Allison Nazarian Just another WordPress weblog

Those of you who know me personally know that I, well, struggle with being a better taker of criticism. I’m just not that thick-skinned. Even if it’s meant well, if it’s not personal or if it is incredibly valuable, I still feel that sting, that defensiveness, well up in me.

While I am proud of all I have done to build my name and my business, I’m not necessarily super-proud of how, back in the day when I was working to establish Get It In Writing as a leader in the copywriting and marketing world, I was kind of a yes-girl.

Actually I was a total yes-girl. (I’d use another word here, but I consider you to be dignified company and I am sure you get the point.)

Last week, I posed this question in this blog.

As I said then, the answer may surprise you. The answer is “NO.”

Here’s why:

1. Like the tree in the forest, if your content isn’t read, noticed, commented upon or acted upon, it’s not of much use. It’s not enough to write it and put it out there.

Just returned from a lunchtime event (speaker/lunch/networking + overlooking the beach to boot!).

At the back of the room was a table with tons of piles of business cards and brochures, each announcing, some in great detail, all of the great talents and capabilities of its respective owner. So many initials (PhD, MSW, XYZ, etc.) and accolades and promises on every single card.

I don’t believe in beating around the proverbial bush.

So I will start this post with the straight answer to my own question and go from there.

The answer is a resounding, surprising and kind-of-a-bummer NO.

No, good content is NOT enough.

I can tell you this for sure. You may think you don’t agree, but I know it to be true.

Like many of you, I am a voracious reader. In other words, I read a lot. A whole lot.

At any given time, I am reading at least 4-5 different books. I pick up and leave off depending on what kind of inspiration or support I need in that given moment. I used to read a lot of fiction but over the past year or two have found that fiction doesn’t do it for me, most of the time, anymore.

There are still those people in business (and all over, really) who rely on cliches and what I would call “corporate speak” (sorry, Corporate People) to get their ideas across (or not across as the case may be).

I’ve found (completely unscientific opinion here) that the larger the company/corporation, the more of this nonsense gets spewed around. The smaller, nimbler companies and entrepreneurs get the job done with less meetings, less memos, less talking and more doing. (Again, sorry Corporate People. I really love you.)

(See my last post for my intro to Kaizen.)

The Kaizen principle or approach is all about putting energy into small powerful things rather than big, all-over-the-place efforts.

It’s a pretty inspirational, at least for me, approach because I tend to set so many goals for myself that I manage to overwhelm myself and not focus on the most important tasks or steps of any given project or venture.

A couple Fridays ago, I took two hours off and sat in a quiet corner at my local Barnes & Noble.

I grabbed about four books and managed to go through each of them (enough to get what I needed to get) in the course of my stay in that big comfy chair there.

Mark Cuban, the outspoken entrepreneur, former Dancing With The Stars contestant, sports team owner and multi-katrillionaire (I know it’s not a word…work with me here) has an awesome blog. And by “awesome” I mean the guy has proven himself in every imaginable way so he can be honest and up-front and tell it like it is. (That’s what it means to have, excuse the expression, “F-U money.”)